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The Princess and Curdie-Part20_George MacDonald(1824-1905)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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with the long body, the four short legs behind, and the little

wings before. No sooner had he poked his head through than he



poked it farther through - and farther, and farther yet, until

there was little more than his legs left in the dungeon. By that



time he had got his head and neck well into the passage beside

Lina. Then his legs gave a great waddle and spring, and he tumbled



himself, far as there was betwixt them, heels over head into the

passage.



'That is all very well for you, Mr Legserpent!' thought Curdie to

himself; 'but what is to be done with the rest?' He had hardly



time to think it, however, before the creature's head appeared

again through the floor. He caught hold of the bar of iron to



which Curdie's rope was tied, and settling it securely across the

narrowest part of the irregularopening, held fast to it with his



teeth. It was plain to Curdie, from the universalhardness among

them, that they must all, at one time or another, have been



creatures of the mines.

He saw at once what this one was after. The beast had planted his



feet firmly upon the floor of the passage, and stretched his long

body up and across the chasm to serve as a bridge for the rest.



Curdie mounted instantly upon his neck, threw his arms round him as

far as they would go, and slid down in ease and safety, the bridge



just bending a little as his weight glided over it. But he thought

some of the creatures would try the legserpent's teeth.



one by one the oddities followed, and slid down in safety. When

they seemed to be all landed, he counted them: there were but



forty-eight. Up the rope again he went, and found one which had

been afraid to trust himself to the bridge, and no wonder! for he



had neither legs nor head nor arms nor tail: he was just a round

thing, about a foot in diameter, with a nose and mouth and eyes on



one side of the ball. He had made his journey by rolling as

swiftly as the fleetest of them could run. The back of the



legserpent not being flat, he could not quite trust himself to roll

straight and not drop into the gulf. Curdie took him in his arms,



and the moment he looked down through the hole, the bridge made

itself again, and he slid into the passage in safety, with Ballbody



in his bosom.

He ran first to the cellar to warn the girl not to be frightened at



the avengers of wickedness. Then he called to Lina to bring in her

friends.



One after another they came trooping in, till the cellar seemed

full of them. The housemaid regarded them without fear.



'Sir,' she said, 'there is one of the pages I don't take to be a

bad fellow.'



'Then keep him near you,' said Curdie. 'And now can you show me a

way to the king's chamber not through the servants' hall?'



'There is a way through the chamber of the colonel of the guard,'

she answered, 'but he is ill, and in bed.'



'Take me that way,' said Curdie.

By many ups and downs and windings and turnings she brought him to



a dimly lighted room, where lay an elderly man asleep. His arm was

outside the coverlid, and Curdie gave his hand a hurried grasp as



he went by. His heart beat for joy, for he had found a good,

honest, human hand.



'I suppose that is why he is ill,' he said to himself.

It was now close upon suppertime, and when the girl stopped at the



door of the king's chamber, he told her to go and give the servants

one warning more.



'Say the messenger sent you,' he said. 'I will be with you very

soon.'



The king was still asleep. Curdie talked to the princess for a few

minutes, told her not to be frightened whatever noises she heard,



only to keep her door locked till he came, and left her.

CHAPTER 26



The Vengeance

By the time the girl reached the servants' hall they were seated at



supper. A loud, confused exclamation arose when she entered. No

one made room for her; all stared with unfriendly eyes. A page,



who entered the next minute by another door, came to her side.

'Where do you come from, hussy?' shouted the butler, and knocked



his fist on the table with a loud clang.

He had gone to fetch wine, had found the stair door broken open and



the cellar door locked, and had turned and fled. Among his

fellows, however, he had now regained what courage could be called



his.

'From the cellar,' she replied. 'The messenger broke open the



door, and sent me to you again.'




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